The manufacturing trend in the last 40 years has been to move USA production to Mexico and China, where the labor rates are lower. This means a manufacturer can be more competitive and stay in business. But the pendulum swings both ways. Americans want to buy items made in USA.
Fortunately, American Made Cutlery is available at reasonable prices. You can get your corporate logo electro etched on the blades at next to no cost. (Just the cost of the setup)
Gift sets are designed to fit into fashionable 2 piece gift boxes. There’s no need to look for an appropriate container to present your gifts to your customers and employees.
Case has been known to make “traditional” looking logo knives. They normally don’t wander very far from this practice. However, this year, orange is IN. Why get orange knives?
Orange is great if your corporate logo has orange in it.
It’s also convenient if you don’t want to loose your knife in the leaves when you drop it.
Here are two examples of very popular styles–the Sod Buster and the Trapper. They can be imprinted either on the blades or the handles. And of course, they are made in the USA.
These new Case knives with your corporate logo will last forever with your customers and employees. This is a cost effective way to make your advertising last forever, or until you retire. Each customer will love to own a USA-made Case knife.
Case has come up with new handle colors and designs. Some are synthetic, bone, and buffalo horn. Some are orange, gray, navy blue, patriotic colors, yellow, black, and white. Most of the blades are high quality stainless steel. One new knife is chrome vanadium (item 031), a material that you can get real sharp, and keep real sharp. Case does the decorating right there in their Pennsylvania factory. They do laser engraving, electro etching, Tech Printing (durable screen printing) up to 2 colors, and engraving with color fill.
The famous Barlow Knives are well-known by people who appreciate a well-made, quality business gift. They were originally made in the USA by Barlow, a company that was based in Los Angeles CA from 1930 to 2005. Barlow made pocket knives, key chains, and money clips and imprinted the customer’s logo on them. This was very popular for businesses to promote themselves to their customers. Barlow products had a lifetime Warranty. If the if the items broke, or failed, the end user could just mail it to Barlow for a repacement. The shipping both ways was paid for by the end user. After 12 years, we still get inquiries about this warranty, which is no longer available.
Barlow Consort Knife
In 2005 the promotional product industry giant, Norwood bought them. Production was kept in China, where Barlow transferred it in 2003, just 2 years before the sale.
Then in June 2009, the Great Recession forced Norwood Promotional Products Holdings, Inc. to declare bankruptcy. So the Barlow Knives brand was once again sold. This time, BIC Graphic North America, another giant, bought Norwood at auction for $162.5 Million. BIC kept the Norwood brand and the little Barlow brand.
Probably the inability to make enough profit forced BIC to sell in June 2017. HIG Capital bought BIC Graphic North America and its Asian sourcing Division for a mere $80 Million. The sales at the time were over $300 Million, according to Bizjournals.com. So this is the third time that the Barlow brand was sold. HIG Capital of Miami FL is a huge company with $21 Billion in equity capital under management. Promotional products are not new to them. They bought Halo, a promotional product distributor, in 2003, and sold it in 2007. The selling price was $62.5 Million. So the $80 Million price it paid for BIC was a real bargain.
It is expected that HIG will continue the same service and products, and do well in this market. Hopefully, the Barlow brand will continue.
When people ask me about the barlow knives, I ask them to let me know which “barlow” they want to know about. The word barlow has 2 meanings. The first meaning is the name of an American company that used to make pocket knives, tape measures, and key chains. They were all high quality, and made in America. USA-made items were very popular, and still are. The Barlow company was sold to another company in 2007 approximately. Then that company was sold to a third company shortly after.
The second meaning of “barlow” is a style of pocket knife that dates back to the 1600’s in England. This is the knife that George Washington used. It still gets a ton of Google searches today.
It is these barlow knives that I am showing you today. These have 2 stainless steel blades, a slightly teardrop-shaped handle, and a large metal bolster.
There are thousands of styles of engravable knives, pocket knives, in the world. Each one has its own personality. Collectors are always looking for the newest, latest, most unique pocket knives at all the gun and knife shows across the USA. Factors they look for are the color, material of the blade, shape and material of the scales (handles), and the mechanics of opening and closing them.
These are my choices of the top 3 most beautiful engravable knives in the USA.
The Kershaw Camo Scallion made the short list because of its printed camouflage design. It almost looks 3 dimensional, or glowing. The opening mechanism is Speedsafe assisted-opening system. It works very smoothly. Of course the blade is high quality 420hc stainless steel. Just so you don’t accidentally open the knife, it has a safety lock to keep it closed when not in use. Made in the USA.
Buck® has many styles of knives, and keeps up with the current tastes of its customers. The most popular style now is the tactical knives. The rich black color of the blade and handle make this a beauty. The openness of the handle makes the weight low. The tanto style blade shape and the serration are both good selling points. Great for an every day carry (EDC), but still a very beautiful pocket knife.
Boker is a fine American company that manufactures knives all over the world. The Boker Leopard Damascus II Knife wins this award on several points. The damascus blade, the blade shape, and the origin of the steel, are all winning points. The steel was forged out of the barrel of the German army tank Leopard I. This gives it the Rockwell hardness of 65-67. The handle has amazing features of its own. It is made of hardcoated 6061-T6 aluminum and it encloses Ziracote wood inserts. This heirloom comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Since 1983 Leatherman Tools have fascinated everyone who needs a tool in an emergency. Having one of these multi-tools is like having a whole light-weight tool box attached to your belt. Why wear a heavy tool belt, when you can have a light-weight Leatherman Tool?
